Eastern Illinois Power 

 Co-operative Is Launched 



y^N FOUR eastern Illinois counties, 



iJj Ford, Iroquois, Livingston and 

 \_^ Vermilion, a 1000-mile network 

 of power lines to carry electrical energy 

 to more than 3000 farm families is being 

 planned by the Eastern Illinois Power 

 Co-operative which was formed at a 

 meeting of county committeemen in 

 Watseka, Wednesday evening, April 14. 



At this meeting Paul E. Mathias, cor- 

 porate secretary of lAA, announced that 

 the Rural Electrification Administration 

 had made a definite commitment to loan 

 the newly formed co-op. $200,000 with 

 which to build rural lines. Mr. Mathias 

 has been active in the legal work needed 

 in forming many of the rural electric 

 co-operative corporations in the state. 



The Eastern Illinois Power Co-opera- 

 tive, like similar corporations, has turned 

 out to be a two-edged sword cutting a 

 path toward more electrified farms. 

 While laying comprehensive plans to get 

 electrical energy to its members on one 

 side, it has prompted established public 

 utilities to construct lines to serve more 

 farms at reasonable rates. The result is 

 that more farms are to receive service 

 than would be reached by either the co- 

 ops or the utilities operating indepen- 

 dently. 



Part of the territory in Livingston 

 county originally surveyed by the Eastern 

 Illinois Power Co-operative has been tak- 

 en over for development by the Public 

 Service Company of Northern Illinois. 

 A survey now in progress indicates that 

 the utility will serve a greater area than 

 would have been included by the co- 

 operative's network. 



Directors of the EIPCo-op announced 

 the appointment of the Caldwell Engi- 

 neering Company of Jacksonville to plan 

 the lines and design the power plant. 



COL. CHAS. W. SASS 

 "From REA to lAA for Electric Co-ops." 



This appointment is subject to the ap- 

 proval of the REA. 



As soon as the engineers have com- 

 pleted their study and plans, the new 

 co-op will take bids for the construction 

 of lines and the proposed power plant. 



Persons interested in getting power 

 from the co-operative are asked to join. 

 A small membership fee is to be charged 

 and each member is to have one vote in 

 the affairs of the organization. Rates for 

 service are to be announced later. 



Committeemen who sponsored the idea 

 of an electric co-operative in Ford, Iro- 

 quois, Vermilion and Livingston coun- 

 ties are the incorporators of the Eastern 

 Illinois Power Co-operative. They are 

 the board of directors of the corporation. 

 At the Watseka meeting, these ten men 



elected E. W. Sass of Iroquois county, 

 president; R. L. Stanford, vice-president; 

 and J. B. Hayes, Vermilion county, sec- 

 retary-treasurer. A new board of direc- 

 tors is to be elected by the membership 

 after the first annual meeting of the 

 ElPCo-operative. 



Other directors of the co-operative are: 

 H. W. Danforth, H. C. Patzman, John 

 Thompson, all of Iroquois county; R. S. 

 Burwash, Vermilion county; Pete Galla- 

 hue. Ford county; William Ringler, and 

 A. B. Hirstein, Livingston county. 



Set Up Electric Co-Opercrtive 

 To Serve Whole State 



^INCORPORATION papers were 



Uj filed recently for the Illinois 

 \J_J Agricultural Electric Company 

 under the Co-operative Act of Illinois. 

 The Company is to be a federation of 

 rural electric co-operatives in the state 

 and will be affiliated with the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association. 



Col. Charles W. Sass, assistant chief 

 engineer of the Rural Electrification Ad- 

 ministration since its inception in May, 

 1935, has come to Illinois as acting di- 

 rector of the new company on leave of 

 absence from the REA. 



The Illinois Agricultural Electric Com- 

 pany will co-ordinate the activities and 

 service in the new Eastern Illinois Power 

 Co-operative of Iroquois, Ford and Ver- 

 milion counties, Menard Electric Co- 

 operative, the Wayne- White Electric Co- 

 of>erative, the Sangamon County Co-op- 

 erative and similar organizations in vari- 

 ous stages of organization in Henry, Pike, 

 Morgan and Scott counties. 



Col. Sass, a reserve officer in the U. 

 S. Army, was bom at Thornton, south 

 of Chicago in Cook county, 49 years ago. 

 Except for his 31/2 years' service in the 

 Signal Corps, his entire life has been 

 spent in the utility and engineering con- 

 struction field. He served as chief in- 

 spector of engineering and construction 

 at one time for the Bell Telephone Com- 

 pany in Missouri and Kansas. Later he 

 was in the electric power contracting 



POWER LINES KNOW NO COUNTY LINES 

 Ten Eastern Illinois farmers from four counties become 

 first members, first directors of El PC. 



VOTE COUNTERS 

 Lowell Johnson, Livingston county. Standing, 

 and Hugh Triplett, Ford county. 



EIPCS FIRST OFFICERS 

 Right, E. W. Sass, president; Cen- 

 ter, R. L. Stanford, vice-president; 

 left, J. 8. Hayes, secretary-treasurer. 



